Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: LynuxWorks | Subject: BlueCat Linux 5.0
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 10 September 2003

Beta scheme gives early
access to new Linux kernel

LynuxWorks has begun a public beta testing programme for the latest version of its embedded Linux operating system, BlueCat Linux 5.0, based on the Linux 2.6 kernel

LynuxWorks has begun a public beta testing programme for the latest version of its Embedded Linux operating system (OS), BlueCat Linux 5.0, based on the Linux 2.6 kernel. BlueCat Linux 5.0 represents a single source of stable, commercial-grade embedded Linux technology that provides the flexibility and cost benefits of open-source software.

BlueCat Linux 5.0 beta is now available for developers who are interested in testing the Linux 2.6 kernel for a wide range of development applications from small consumer-type devices to large-scale systems.

To ensure that its embedded Linux OS meets the highest level of performance for embedded environments without compromise, LynuxWorks subjected BlueCat Linux 5.0 to the same stringent qualification procedures and performance benchmark testing that was used to qualify its LynxOS hard real-time operating system (RTOS).

LynuxWorks is the only ISO9001:2000-registered company providing embedded Linux, and one of less than a handful in the total embedded software market.

ISO9001:2000 certification represents an industry-recognised level of quality and service that enables customers to be confident in their decision to partner with LynuxWorks.

By using the same ISO9001:2000 processes for BlueCat Linux 5.0, LynuxWorks was able to complete the qualification necessary to bring the product to beta test level ahead of the rest of the embedded industry.

Over the past 15 years, LynuxWorks has developed an extensive suite of tests to qualify each new version of LynxOS prior to public release.

These test suites have now been ported to BlueCat and were used to qualify the BlueCat Linux 5.0 beta release to ensure that beta customers receive well-tested software for developing their products with the Linux 2.6 kernel.

Additionally, developers receive an embedded Linux OS that is unmatched in the industry - open-source, royalty-free, robust and supportable throughout the entire embedded product life cycle.

"The embedded developer community has been eagerly anticipating the availability of the Linux 2.6 kernel and we are proud to offer the first embedded operating system ready for beta testing", said Dr Inder Singh, President and CEO of LynuxWorks.

"The Linux 2.6 kernel promises to deliver powerful, enhanced functionality and features for embedded developers and we are excited to incorporate these new capabilities into our BlueCat Linux OS ahead of schedule.

The enhanced features in the 2.6 kernel will provide developers greater real-time performance that was previously unattainable in earlier versions of Linux".

The Linux 2.6 kernel features improved kernel pre-emption.

In the previous kernel version, pre-emption had to be actively requested by the executing code and execution could only be interrupted by explicit yields, sleeps, and interrupt requests (IRQs).

As the Linux 2.6 kernel can be pre-empted, new processes may be scheduled immediately after servicing a particular external interrupt.

Therefore, when an event occurs that causes a higher priority task to be executable, the system will pre-empt the current task and run the higher priority task.

As a result, latency of the kernel is greatly reduced and the resulting system response is greatly increased.

Based on the design of the old Linux scheduler, a global run-queue would scan and hold all runable processes and reschedules would scan the entire run-queue to determine the next set of processes to execute and run.

The Linux 2.6 kernel maintains two queues per CPU for active and expired processes, sorts executable actions by priority, and allows real-time processes to share one queue.

This allows for greater real-time performance with few runable processes.

The Linux 2.6 kernel provides improved threading support for the new Posix threads library, providing greater compatibility with hundreds of Posix applications.

As a result, greater source code compatibility can be achieved between BlueCat Linux and LynxOS, in addition to the ABI compatibility that already exists between the two operating systems.

BlueCat Linux 5.0 is expected to be fully available in November of this year directly through LynuxWorks.

Information on joining the BlueCat 5.0 beta programme can be found on the LynuxWorks website.

• LynuxWorks: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• NEW
• Electronicstalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Put your news on Electronicstalk  |   Advertise  |   Get the free Electronicstalk newsletter
Electronicstalk Home  |   About Electronicstalk  |   Copyright © 2000-2007 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK